Wicked Escapes is another of the companies we had the pleasure of visiting on our recent Boston trip. They were easy to find, with decent signage and plenty of parking. Unfortunately, our first impression wasn’t the best, as we arrived in a lobby that felt a little bare and spartan. They did cover the basics, with a few chairs to sit down on and some drinks available (for a price), but the ambiance was somewhat lacking. Fortunately the staff were very friendly and quickly made us feel welcome.

The story set up and introduction to the room were fairly minimal and quickly dispensed with, after which we were off to play the game itself. The first part of the experience again felt a little spartan, but things improved after that. The props were solid with some nice touches of authenticity. In fact, the place looked so much like a museum that it felt a little weird touching some of the exhibits. We did unfortunately run into one tech issue that delayed us for a few minutes as we tried to figure out why something wasn’t working. However, we did mention the issue to the staff and hopefully they’ll have fixed it by now.

The immersion was quite good, with a space that looked and felt like a museum and a number of authentic-looking exhibits, complete with details such as soft lighting and informational placards. However, while the atmosphere was good, there wasn’t much by way of story development. Twists and turns and new developments in the story is something that we here at ERA always wish more companies would include in their rooms.

The puzzles were a bit of a mixed bag. For the most part, the puzzles felt reasonably intuitive and flowed well from one to the next. However, while the room isn’t completely linear, there are limited numbers of puzzles to work on at any given time, and in our group of five, one player felt a little disconnected from the action and felt like a lot of the time they were just watching others play. Also, some of the puzzles felt like they were just up-scaled versions of fairly basic puzzles. On the other hand, we did enjoy the tactile, hands-on interaction with them, and the build quality was quite good. We would generally rate the difficulty somewhere between beginner and intermediate, but the final puzzle is a really cool, unique, and challenging one that is sure to give even the most experienced escaper a run for their money!

Overall we generally enjoyed The Great Museum Heist Caper Job. The atmosphere was decent, we enjoyed the tactile, hands-on nature of a lot of the puzzles, and the room flowed fairly well. However, we would recommend this room for no more than 3-4 players, due to the limited puzzle paths. Overall though a pretty decent room, so be sure to give it a try if you’re in the area.